Gardai are investigating after an attempted approach of a nine year old child after he was "groomed" online.
The incident happened in Ardee, Co Louth last Monday morning.
It is understand the youngster was approached and groomed on the game Fortnite.
The man asked to meet him and told the child he would be banned from playing the game if he didn’t.
He then arranged for a meeting. However the boy was spotted by a vigilant relative walking towards the mystery car last Monday morning.
The relative intervened and stopped him and the car with a man in it sped off.
Gardai confirmed they were investigating the incident after becoming aware of it via Whatsapp messages.
A source said: "The boys family are very upset what happened. Children need to be very careful on these games.
"It all sounds very sinister. Hopefully we can catch whoever was involved."
The abductor threatened to ban the child from Fortnite if he didn't meet him and the kid believed him.
He had hacked an account of one of the boy's genuine friends and posed as his friend.
The innocent young lad thought he was talking to his real buddy and he was going on a surprise trip with his pal's family, and asked not to tell his own because it was a secret.
The nine-year-old left his house with a backpack containing pjs, toothbrush and teddies to get into the car the man was waiting in around the corner from his home.
Luckily a relative spotted him and got suspicious and telephoned his mum to see if she knew where he was going.
He went straight after the child and stopped him before he got into a black car near the entrance to the Rockfield estate in the town.
The driver was wearing a blue top and sped off when he saw the adult relative.Gardai searched all around Ardee for the car and driver but didn't trace the suspect.
For the latest news and breaking news visit irishmirror.ie/news.
Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
Follow us on Twitter - the official Irish Mirror Twitter account - real news in real time.
We're also on Facebook - your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day from the Irish Daily Mirror, Irish Sunday Mirror and irishmirror.ie.
You can also get in touch with us via our Instagram account.
